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Board Annual Review 2003-4
Introduction
This report reviews the second year of the Trust from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004, and up-dates developments since. The highlights are:
Regenerating Lambeth Riverside
The Trust was established in March 2002 to become a community led organisation focussing on the regeneration of the Lambeth Riverside area of Kennington and Vauxhall.
Community Chest
In 2002-3 the Trust was responsible for administering the Community Chest programme which helped 15 local organisations: Gasworks, Kurdish Cultural Centre, Alford House, Walnut Tree Primary School, Ethelred Nursery School, Ethelred Kids Club, Roots & Shoots, Thames Reach Bondway HA, James Kane Nursery, Lighthouse Education Service, Museum of Garden History, Hurley Pre-school Playgroup, Vauxhall City Farm and Vauxhall Primary School.
This valuable work continued in 2003-4 with a second round of Community Chest grants. The local organisations to benefit were:
· Ethelred Youth Centre Improvements to outside area · Lambeth Walk In Centre Timebank Feasibility study · Lilian Baylis School French Learning Support Club · Lambeth Walk Market Traders Provision of canopies · North Lambeth Parish St Anslems – open church to community · Vauxhall Gdns Community Centre Spring Forward · Vauxhall Christian Centre Developing a Community Hall · Harleyford Rd Community Gdns Paths of Friendship with Ethlered Youth Club · James Kane Nursery Security · Lighthouse Education Service Saturday School
Four members of the Board comprised the Appriasial Panel for the Community Chest in 2003-4: Mary Acland-Hood, Rita Fitzgerald, Faye Lightbourne and Comfort Wilson.
Riverside IT Project
The Trust developed the ‘walk in’ Riverside IT (Information Technology) project at 125 Lambeth Walk to enable local people to have access to computers and the Internet. The Project was aimed to address ‘the technology gap’ that exists in the area. Local people are supported to learn how to use computers and a variety of software including word processing, spreadsheets and databases.
The preparatory work was overseen by Steering Group including Board members Clare Douglas, Sam Martin and Mfon Udoh and members of the former Walk IT group. The preparatory work to establish the Project included:
* building works and adaptations to the premises * purchase of computer equipment and hardware * establishment of systems * recruitment and employment of a project Manager and support staff
We were delighted to hold a children’s competition for a logo design for the project. An open day was organised for the launch of the project on 3 March and to acknowledge the children.
The SRB funding for the project ended on 31 March. The Board is most grateful to the financial support from the Walcott Trust which kept the project open until the end of May. Meanwhile with the help of Councillor Fitchett discussions were held with Lambeth Council’s Housing Department Estate Skills Partnership (ESP) which runs four IT centres on estates in the Borough, for them to become day to day managers of the project. This took effect at the beginning of June. Because of the uncertainty, the contract for Miriam Shashore, the project Manager, was ended. A Partnership agreement was agreed, under which ESP pays all the bills, took on responsibility for Ellen Russell and Luis Ventura, who are now Lambeth employees. The Trust remains responsible for the lease on 125 Lambeth Walk, which was signed in July, and for helping with fundraising and publicity. For health and safety reasons the opening hours had to be shortened in order to ensure there are two staff present on site at one time. ESP trainees are now supporting the staff enabling open hours to be extended again. A Steering Group to oversee the development of the project has been established with ESP, the Board being represented by Sam Martin and Mfon Udoh. The project has been very successful with over 160 people using its facilities on a regular basis. Morley College also ran a pilot course at the project. Morley is running courses at the project from October, with crèche support provided by Kennington Sure Start.
20 Newburn St
The Trust has its office base at 20 Newburn St. This property is owned by London & Quadrant Housing Trust. It housed Renaisi, the organisation providing the administrative and financial support to the Lambeth Riverside SRB programme and Board up until 31 March 2004. Office accommodation is also provided to Lambeth Council’s North Lambeth Town Centre Management Team. The aim was for the London Development Agency to buy the premises from the Housing Trust, and lease it to RCDT for a pepper-corn rent to develop as a community hub. The Town Centre Team would become tenants of RCDT. The Trust aims to develop the building as community hub including the provision of meeting space. Negotiations on the lease and the rental agreement have been protracted, and Philip Moore, the Trust Treasurer, has devoted a lot of time to ensure the Trust maximises the benefits of the arrangements. The terms of the lease with the LDA and the rental agreement with Lambeth were finally agreed in September this year. Lambeth will pay a annual rent for five workspaces and an annual lump sum for services. There is a one year cut-off in the lease which will be triggered if the Trust does not provide the LDA with an acceptable development plan and budget.
With funding from the LDA the Trust was able to engage an architect to undertake a feasibility exercise to re-organise the internal arrangements in the building in order to maximum its use as a community hub. These were examined in detail by the Board in March and the need for changes identified. Since then it has given further consideration to the draft plans. The aim is now to locate the Town Centre Management Team in the room where the RCDT office and meeting space is, to create a new meeting space where the reception area and office is, retain the interviewing room and locate the Trust office and additional lettable deskspaces upstairs. The LDA has promised money towards the costs of the adaptations.
Vauxhall Festivals 2003 and 2004
The Trust worked in collaboration with the Vauxhall Festival Steering Committee and North Lambeth Town Centre Management Committee to stage the Vauxhall Festival in the summer of 2003. RCDT was involved in the organisation and had a high profile at the Music Day on August 3rd 2003, when it sponsored some of the infrastructure for the event. The Trust used the opportunity to promote itself by having a display and face painting in a marquee, which we shared with Kennington Sure Start and North Lambeth Town Centre. Because of the pending end of the SRB programme and the need to concentrate on securing the future of the Trust, the Board did not consider that it was in a position to be actively involved in the organisation of the 2004 Festival. A Steering Committee was established which included two members of the Trust Board: Celia Stothard and Danielle Arnaud. Lady Margaret Hall Settlement took on responsibility as lead organisation. Board members ran a stall about the Trust at the final day event organised at the Ethelred Youth Club. A number of new members were made and tea-shirts sold. The Board agreed in August 2004 to organise a meeting to discuss the future of the Festival for 2005, and adopted a discussion paper on it at its September meeting. Two open discussion sessions were held on 4 October. Following them, the Board has decided to co-ordinate a Festival for 2005
Trust Manager and Development Consultant
The Trust employed its own full-time Manager Geoff Hollett in early 2003. For a while he had the support of a part-time administrative assistant Kelly Florent. He worked closely with Renaisi staff, especially Claire Briscoe who was based at 20 Newburn St. With the ending of the SRB programme the future funding of the post was uncertain. Discussions with Lady Margaret Hall Settlement led to an agreement that Geoff would work part time for the Trust and part-time for the Settlement, paid for by the Settlement. The Trust is grateful for the Settlement’s support.
The Settlement also agreed to fund the cost of additional support. The Board agreed to engage a freelance Development Consultant Sean Creighton who started on 24 May this year. Geoff resigned with effect in early June to return to Wales. The Settlement grant has enabled the Trust to engage Sean till the end of October. He has sorted out all the outstanding issues unresolved on 31 March with the closure of the SRB programme, and improved the support to the Board. The Board has agreed that he can have desk space for his other freelance work. In return he will give the Trust one free day a week support from the beginning of November.
Cultural Diversity and Tourism
Agreement was reached in March for the Trust to facilitate a seminar on cultural diversity and tourism for Cross River Partnership. This was held in spring 2004. A report of the outcome was submitted, and the Trust was paid £1,500, received in the financial year 2004-5.
Beaufoy Institute
The Board has kept a watching brief on the future of the Beaufoy Institute. Geoff Hollett, the Trust Manager. had meetings with relevant Lambeth Council staff. There was also a meeting with the Director of Lady Margaret Hall Settlement about its proposals for the future of the Beaufoy. A working group of Board members was set up to monitor developments: Celia Stothard, Danielle Arnaud, Mary Acland-Hood and Jane Madsen. The Board gave its support to the Settlement’s proposal to provide an Artisan School in the Institute to train local people in practical hand skills linked to supporting and promoting small businesses.
Lambeth Council however continues to want to relocate the Michael Tippett Special School to the Beaufoy. It held a series of meetings with organisations about the future in July this year. The Board has adopted a policy statement on its view about what should happen to the Institute building and site. This stresses the need to keep with the terms of the charitable restrictions for the provision on vocational training, and for community use. It has said it would be interested in a partnership with other organisations to ensure proper temporary use of the building while the longer-term plans are sorted.
The Future of the Trust
The Board spent a lot of time considering the Trust’s future during the year. An away day for Board members and the two staff was held on 14 January with the help of Strategic Urban Futures. A Business Plan was drawn up and funding opportunities identified. It proved more difficult than expected to act on these. Since April the Board has since had to re-think what to do. As part of the process it held a meeting on 30 September for members to express their views. The Board has now adopted a Development Plan for 2004-6.
Part of the development of the Trust was to register it as a charity in addition to being a company limited by guarantee. The Charity Commissioners required a change to the ‘area of benefit’ the geographic area covered by the Trust. The Trust now covers Bishops, Princes, Oval and Vassall Wards, though its main focus remains on the Riverside SRB area of Kennington and Vauxhall. This and changes to the objects required an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held in December. This approved amendments to the Memorandum of Association of the Trust (Box with details to be inserted).
The Board has a Funding Committee comprising Mary Acland-Hood, Faye Lightbourne and Comfort Wilson. Two funding applications for Riverside IT were unsuccessful. The outcome of two applications for funding a full-time worker post are awaited.
Finances
During the financial year 2003-4 the majority of the expenditure of the Trust on developing it self as an organisation, the Community Chest grants and establishing the Riverside IT project was handled directly through the SRB programme, for which Lambeth Council was the financial accountable body. This meant that the Trust had very little income and expenditure during the year. The total income to the Trust in 2003-4 was £27,151 and the total expenditure was £23,269.
This situation has changed in 2004-5 with substantially more income and expenditure with many final payments under the SRB programme being paid direct to the Trust to pay out again, the grant support from Walcott Trust and Lady Margaret Hall Settlement, and the rental income from Lambeth Council’s North Lambeth Town Centre Management Team.
Patron
Kate Hoey, MP
Board Members: Clare Douglas, Tim Saunders, Philip Moore, Comfort Wilson, Mfon Udoh, Karen McClellan, Faye Lightbourne, Jane Madsen, Graham Cocking, Celia Stothard, Rita Fitzpatrick, Mary Acland-Hood, Danielle Arnaud, and Sam Martin.
Staff
Geoff Hollett, Trust Manager (March 2003 - June 2004) Miriam Shashore, Riverside IT Manager (August 2003 – 28 May 2004) Ellen Russell, Riverside IT worker (5 April -28 May 2004)
Freelance Support
Luis Ventura (Riverside IT) (5 April – 31 May 2004) Sean Creighton (Trust Development Consultant) 24 May 2004ff)
Auditors: Michael Bell & Co, 56, St. James’s St, London, E17 78PE Bankers: Co-operative Bank, Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT
Membership and donation details
RCDT 20 Newburn St London, SE11 5PJ Tel: 020 7926 2775 Fax: 020 7926 2778 Email: info@rcdt.org Website: www.rcdt.org
Charity No: 1101561 Company limited by guarantee No: 4425329 |